Thursday, August 20, 2009

Remember that article in Time by Lev Grossman? The one about "one of the world's most prolific and influential book reviewers" Harriet Klausner?

Turns out that the selfsame Lev Grossman is not just some journalist. Turns out that "Lev Grossman is a senior writer and book critic for TIME magazine". And we wondered why he would write such an article! Hmmm... :-)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Am I alone in my bewilderment as to how Harriet's number of "helpful votes" is growing by leaps and bounds? Her "reviews" themselves within the last few years have never garnered a suspicious number of "helpfuls" as did, say, those of Grady Harp. In fact, she is winning such little favor among Amazon readers as to be on a definite downward spiral in the New Ratings System. On the other hand, her position as Number One Reviewer in the Classical (i.e. fraudulent) System is cemented, I suspect, not only by the continuing surreal proliferation of her "reviews" but by an unbelievable number of "helpful votes," presumably in the main on her older reviews. She's garnered more than 40 such within less than the last 24 hours. Now this is an easily overlooked phenomenon which, for my money, calls to mind Grady Harp's practices of old.